Laurent Duvernay-Tardif didn't intend to enrol at McGill, but the school allowed him to pursue a medical degree and an NFL career.

McGill University has played a major role in Laurent Duvernay-Tardif’s life, but the Kansas City Chiefs lineman and newly minted M.D. said Tuesday that the school wasn’t his first choice.

“My English was really terrible and I applied to all the French schools, but I missed the interviews because I put the wrong date in my agenda,” Duvernay-Tardif said after he picked up his medical degree at the school’s spring convocation.

“McGill wasn’t my first choice but I ended up here and, at the beginning, I thought I would stop playing football and focus on learning the language and being a doctor,” the Mont-St-Hilaire native said. “But I wouldn’t be here and in Kansas City if it weren’t for McGill.”

His graduation Tuesday was the culmination of an eight-year quest and Duvernay-Tardif said collecting his degree ranked ahead of earning a starting spot in the National Football League with a five-year contract worth US$42 million (U.S.).

“I think this is the first time I’m really proud of myself, I’ve made it,” said the 27-year-old. “Football is an awesome opportunity in the sense that not everyone can play football and live off it. But being a doctor is more than that. You get to change things, you get to treat people. It’s an honour to be a member of that community and I take the responsibility seriously. I want to be known as a good doctor.”

“I love both (football and medicine) but I also think it’s important to build a career that you can do for a long time and medicine is that. To do something that you love and are passionate about for 40 years is important. Football isn’t that.”

Duvernay-Tardif said one of his goals is to be a role model. He has a foundation that promotes physical fitness for youngsters and he has asked the Chiefs if he can put DR. in front of his name on his uniform nameplate.

“One of the cool things about doing both is to show people that you can do it,” he said. “For all those kids out there who are questioning themselves about whether they should go to school to pursue hockey or football and still study something like medicine, now there’s someone who’s done it. I want to show you can be a student-athlete. I believe balance is the key to success.”

Duvernay-Tardif has engaged in a balancing act during the past four years, moving back and forth between Kansas City and his studies in Montreal.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Laurent Duvernay-Tardif celebrates after a field goal during the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Kansas City on Nov. 6, 2016.Ed Zurga /
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“I was coming back to Montreal as an NFL player and the spotlight is shining on you,” he said. “But you’re starting your next round of medical studies and it’s something more than football. It gives you a perspective.”

Duvernay-Tardif said the last hurdle to obtaining his degree was the Medical Council of Canada exam and it was stressful.

“It covered the last four years (of medical school) but, for me, I spread my curriculum over eight years and so my last rotation in surgery six years ago was far behind me.”

The next step is a residency. Duvernay-Tardif said he hopes that he will be able to work out a program at McGill, but he’s not sure when or how it’s going to happen. He said being a part-time resident might be difficult, but he’s managed to find away in the past.

Duvernay-Tardif said his parents, Guylaine Duvernay and François Tardif, provided him with the support he needed in his unconventional pursuit of a dual career because his childhood was anything but conventional.

“I didn’t grow up as a normal kid,” explained Duvernay-Tardif. “I went to an alternative school, where I was dancing and painting in eighth grade. And I went on a sailboat trip with my parents and my two sisters for three years and those kind of experiences. Exploring the world and embracing different cultures helped me be more open and to follow my dream. I learned to live for the project and not for the money, and I’m grateful to my parents for teaching me that way of living. When everyone told me I had to make a choice between medicine and football, they told me I should pursue both of my passions.”

Duvernay-Tardif said he was also fortunate that McGill and the Chiefs were flexible in arranging his schedule.

“The first time I talked to (Chiefs head coach Andy Reid) and told him what I wanted to do, he said ‘that’s awesome’ and he supported me,” said Duvernay-Tardif. “Training starts in mid-April and he would say ‘when are you going to be back?’ And I’d say ‘I have an obstetrics and gynecology rotation until mid-May’ and he’d tell me that was no problem, to show up when I finished my exam. He was trusting me that I was going to be accountable and I was training here (in Montreal).”

Reid might have been more understanding than some coaches because his mother, Elizabeth, also graduated from McGill’s medical school.

Duvernay-Tardif said he wouldn’t have time to celebrate his graduation. He flew back to Kansas City Tuesday for the start of the Chiefs’ spring training camp.

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